Students Breken Ballard and J’undra Pegues try to piece together information from a tombstone dating back to the 1800s. Students help clean up, add temporary markers and record names for a database at the grave yard at the Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church of Oxford as part of the Big Event.
The biggest community service event in Oxford’s history will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the fifth year Ole Miss will host the Big Event, with participation increasing each year. Ole Miss students participate in various service projects around the community for one day as a “thank you” to the university’s supporters in the Oxford and Lafayette area.
The Big Event exceeded its goal of volunteers this year, with a total of 3,010 volunteers to complete 205 service projects, the largest number of participants in school history.
“My personal goal for this year is to remember the mission of the Big Event – to give back and say “thank you,” co-director Caroline Loveless said. “In the planning process it can be very easy to lose sight of the end goal and get caught up in the stress of the miniscule things, but when I take a step back and remember the smiles and the laughter felt on the day of, I can breathe a sigh of relief and keep on planning.”
The team members will meet their team leader and fellow members at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Tad Smith Coliseum. Breakfast will be served, a DJ will be present, and activities such as a photo booth and a cash grabber box will be available. The keynote speaker is Athletics Director Ross Bjork, who will lead the kickoff at 9 a.m. The teams will proceed to their service projects shortly thereafter. These projects can range from cleaning up a local church to helping an elderly neighbor with yard work.
“Oxford is a fabulous place to get an education, and it feels great coming together with my Ole Miss family to support the community,” Fragola said. “It’s incredible how much work can get done in one day of community service when we all work together.”
